Most people are. The concert pianist Arthur Rubenstein said that there were two types on nerves: the first kind, where you really didn’t know the score and just went out there and winged it, and the second type where you really knew the score but were nervous anyway. He said he much preferred the second type. Most problems with nerves occur because of a lack of preparation or too much of the wrong kind of preparation – like trying to remember word-perfect answers.
The best job interviews are intense, focussed professional conversations where well-prepared and well matched interviewers and interviewees discuss questions and issues both are well versed in.
The most successful interviewees put about 20-30 hours into preparing the interview by fine-tuning the application to the job spec, by researching the company, its markets and its products in depth and by matching their application to the real-life demands of the job being applied for.
To be most successful the interview is practiced in a number of different ways e.g. by preparing for the standard questions, by using a video or audio recorder to hear how sample questions are dealt with, buddying up with a friendly inquisitor and by preparing material in bullet form – ultimately freeing yourself from the tyranny of the written text.
Being nervous is inevitable – some relief comes after practising and aiming for a better type of nerves and that makes the interview manageable but not necessarily comfortable.